FAIRFIELD, CONN. (April 15, 2016)—Behind the strong hitting of Robert Costigan III (Oxford, Conn.) and Austin Arcala (Long Beach, Calif.) the Sacred Heart men's volleyball recorded the program's second best hitting percentage in a single match (.487) in Friday night's sweep of NJIT. Arcala paced SHU with 14 kills while three of his teammates tallied nine.

The win improves the Pioneers to 7-16 on the season and 5-8 in EIVA play heading into the final match of the season tomorrow when Princeton comes to the Pitt for a 4:00 p.m. match. Prior to the match, Sacred Heart will honor Arcala, the team's lone graduating senior.

Highlights:

• The Pioneers combined for the second best hitting percentage in program history (.487)
• Costigan and Arcala both were hitting .667 through the first two sets with seven kills a piece. They finished the match hitting .615 and .565 respectively
• A trio of Pioneers recorded nine kills: Michael Comens (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), Taylor Bloomquist (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Costigan

How It Happened:

• Set 1 (25-19): The teams traded points early before Costigan's strong serving led the Pioneers to a five-point streak for an 11-5 lead. They never looked back from there, expanding their lead thanks to service streaks from Eduardo Zardo (Brasilia, Brazil) and Arcala
• Set 2 (25-18): The score tied five times before either team reached double-digits. An 8-8 tie snapped in SHU's favor with two points. The Highlanders stayed close before a 6-1 streak boosted Sacred Heart to an 18-12 advantage. NJIT came back within four points, 22-18, but could never overcome the Pioneers
• Set 3 (25-23): After a 3-3 tie snapped in their favor, SHU never relinquished the lead throughout the third set. NJIT did nearly come all the way back evening the score at 22 all, but Sacred Heart took three of the next four points to clinch the victory